1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile door and, more particularly to an automobile door that is easy to fabricate, enhanced in ease of assembling door functional parts, and significantly reduced in the number of door-associated parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. Heisei 1-249516 discloses a method in which door functional parts are mounted between the outer and inner panels of a door for automobile before these panels are coupled together.
The disclosed method will be described in more detail. Referring to FIG. 10, reference character "a" indicates an outer panel, reference character "b" indicates an inner panel, and reference character "c" indicates a trim board. The inner panel "b" is made of an iron sheet formed with a coupling flange "b1" around the periphery of the inner panel except for the upper rim. The inside of the inner panel "b" is formed into a flat part-mounting recess "b2". The part-mounting recess "b2" is provided with many mounting holes "d" and tapped holes "e" in advance. By means of these holes, a window glass regulator "f", right and left glass guides "h1" and "h2" for guiding a window glass "g", a door check "i", a side door lock "k", and so forth are mounted that constitute door functional parts.
Reference character "l" indicates an outside handle, reference character "m" indicates an inside handle, reference character "n" indicates a door mirror bracket, reference character "o" indicates a reinforcement for reinforcing the inner panel "b", reference characters "p1" and "p2" indicate door hinges, and reference character "q" indicates a weather strip for sealing both panels "a" and "b". The outside handle "l" is mounted so as to be operatively associated with the side door lock "k" and the inside handle "m" via a door open control link "r" and a locking control link "s".
Referring to FIG. 10 again, because parts "f", "g" and so forth that constitute the door functional parts are mounted on the open surface of the inner panel "b" before the inner panel "b" is coupled to the outer panel "a", significant improvement in mounting work is expected for sure. However, the inner panel "b" is made of an iron sheet, therefore, fairly heavy and cumbersome to handle. Moreover, because a lot of door functional parts "f", "g" and so forth need to be mounted through the tapped holes "e" one by one, a lot of work steps to be done and a multitude of parts to be mounted still present problems to be solved.
If the inner panel "b" is made of resin alone, the door weight and the number of door functional parts may certainly be reduced, however, the resin-molded inner panel lacks mechanical strength and therefore it is difficult to make the inner panel stand alone as a door module with a lot of door functional parts mounted. To secure the mechanical strength, a special resin such as fiber-glass-reinforced plastic needs to be used, which inevitably pushes up the cost.